Beware Of The Yakuza
by DuckyNinja
Summary: They say that if you marry into a Yakuza, you marry into death. I guess I'm heading to an early grave then aren't I? SasuSaku. Au.
1. Just A Matter Of Coincidence

**Beware Of The Yakuza**

**Just A Matter Of Coincidence**

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To me it was a typical Wednesday evening at the surgery, sifting through file upon file, vandilsing each sheet in an explosion of ink. Again I was working a long shift due to the immense pile of papers towering over my head, personally issued by my mentor and the head GP, Tsunade.

I sometimes thought she had a secret fetish for torturing me with ungodly hours of work.

The blackness of night had long since swallowed the sun in its belly and now layered the sky with infinite amounts of darkness. I should have been home in the comfort of my duvet, pressed beneath its heavy warmth. The restless ticking of my office clock thrashed against my eardrums reminding me of the little time I had left at work. This distracted me and drew my eyes to its dusty face. I stared wishingly at the second hand, silently pleading it to inch closer to the '12' so I could escape the white and dreary walls I sat between. It was just a small surgery with only a few doctors at hand to tend to daily patients that continually trudged through the doors, asking to be seen or comfirm their appointments. As annoying as they were (some requesting attention over ridiculous problems), I loved it, the feeling of helping someone in need, surrendering my time and skills to provide a healthier standard of living. It felt fulfilling.

Taking my head out of the clouds, I refocused on the papers littering my desk. The writing was blurring in my tired vision, looking now as if the neat and leveled print was a big black scribble painted across the table. I was too exhausted to finish and besides, Tsunade wouldn't mind if I took off leaving some work behind(I think).

Releasing a low sigh I stood from my seat, dropping my pen in a small plastic cup balanced on the edge of the desk, threatening to fall and crash to the floor, but at the moment, I really didn't care. I lifted my feet one step at a time, eventually closing in on my coat that hung on the rack stapled to the door. Lazily slipping my arms through the sleeves and tugging it over my shoulders, I turned back briefly to inspect the chaos of the room, running my eyes over every corner to make sure it was 'decent' enough for me to leave, which it was. Flicking the lights off and swooping down to catch my bag in the grasp of my fingers, I shut the door behind me locking it, then made my way (slowly) to the waiting room where I checked myself out. I was too disorientated to notice the empty seats hidden behind the counter and I mumbled a short 'bye' to, what should have been, the receptionists.

Stepping into the fresh air, the wind caressed my cheeks with its cold breath, grabbing my hair in a violent flurry as if it were trying to pull me upwards towards its havern, trying to save me from what was to come. Letting the door slip from my grip, I walked away from the building leaving it to stand alone under the watch of a lamp post; the biting wind swept across my front which made me automatically pull my coat tighter over my body in a desperate effort to conserve as much warmth as possible.

The tiredness that was bearly there a moment ago was now initiating its attack on my eyes and muscles. I struggled to fight against it, I needed to hold out until I reached my bed, until I reached safety. My legs were weakening, refusing to carry my weight as I trugged along the grey streets of silence; my muscles twitched fiercly when I tried to speed up, they just wouldn't hold me. My concentration soon drifted to the sharp bang echoing from a far down alley and completely disregarding my inability to support myself, I forced my legs to run. Every breath came deeper and more ragged than the last, I was nearing unconsciousness but the thought that there could be someone laying lonely, wounded, made me forget everything.

I skidded to a halt in front of the alley where the sound had come from. I squinted my eyes into tiny beads of green, looking through the curtain of shadows that hung protectively before a body, trying to hide the scene. Without thinking, I tredded forward to get a better look but regretted it when I saw the hideous mutilation of (what I thought was) a man. It was too gruesome, too sickening, to descibe or to even look at. Upon witnessing this, my nurturing nature took over instinctively, I needed to help or atleast try.

Taking a few more steps towards the body with my hand reaching out, something hard wrapped around my waist, stealing me away. It pinned me against another hard surface and for some reason, I sunk in like I felt safer if I did. Moist breath clipped the rim of my ear and a pair of lips dragged gently down my jaw, arousing a pool of lust in my belly.

"Look," the voice hypnotised me, it was light and husky all at the same time. I felt drugged by it. The person's fingers locked onto my chin, gripping it tenderly whilst moving my attention to the direction of the bloodied flesh that I had momentarily forgotten about. My eyes ran over the shining scarlet holes puncturing every part of the body, it was truly disgusting.

"This is what happens-" the person paused, bringing their other arm up. A gun was moulded comfortably into the curves of their hand, a finger resting loosely on the trigger. My mouth opened to try and reason but the words were replaced with a swallowed breath that hit the back of my throat harshly, the coldness of it slashing across my tonsils.

Bang.

"-when you betray." I could hear the evil intent, I could feel the wild smirk against my cheek, it was frightening.

Their lips returned to the bottom of my jaw leaving a tingling kiss, this person was simply irresistable and I hadn't even seen them. The arm settled on my waist crushed me further into their marble chest, suffocating me with their smell. It was soothing. I felt another kiss caress my neck, warming the grazed area to the point where there was a considerable difference between it and the rest of my body. I made an effort to spin round and take a look at my mystery man but the force of their grip kept me locked in place, which obviously had my captor amused for I heard a soft chuckle, its vibration racking every bone of my skeleton.

"Who are you?" my voice was cracking, I had forgetten about the tiredness from earlier and it was catching up on me, springing its silent ambush on my body.

"Hn," was all I got in response after another pause and then it all went black.

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**So here is another story, I wrote it about a year ago but then other things came up and I never pursued it and because I've had snow days all week, I thought, hey why not go back to it, so I did and I rewrote alllllll of it ahaha :P I hope you all like it and don't worry, I'm writing in the town of tokyo as well so it should be up in a few days but I wanted to get this out first to see what type of response it gets :D**

**My other story hide and seek is still going on but I prioritise the other one over it (I'll try and update soon) But yeh, read and hopefull enjoy and review (as always ahahaa)  
Happy reading :D**

**Byebiiiiii xoxo**


	2. Never The Same Again

**Beware Of The Yakuza**

**Never The Same Again**

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Three days had hurried on since I played witness to seeing a grotesque mutilation and heartless execution, of what seemed to me like a man, by my mysterious murderer/temporary captor in that alley; the images still haunted me, clinging to any ounce of anxiety linguring somewhere in my body and amplifying the memories to an unbearable level, turning them into a literal nightmare that offered no escape.

After I recovered from my collaspe into those strong, sculpted arms carved from marble, I found myself waking up in my apartment... _my _apartment. He was no where to be seen, no trace left behind to affirm his existence, he was like a remnants of last night's wind that had vanished along with the darkness. But what really made me wonder was, how did he know where I lived? Was he a stalker? Or was it purely down to intuition? Although, I don't think anyone's intuition is _that_ good. Then a more pressing thought interrupted my confusion over his knowing of where I lived, what about the dead person? Which took me to where I had encountered that brutal scene in the alley only to find nothing. Literal nothing. Just the dusky walls stained with years of torment from weather erosion and bins littered with moulding chip bags and beer cans. No blood. No body. Did it really happen then? Or was my imagination simply tired of not being exercised and decided to possess my logical thinking in order to 'spice up' my life?

Three days. I still couldn't believe how quickly time had passed with the help of work and tending to pathetic cases of cold-catchers and some more interesting cases of children managing to wedge a piece of _Lego_ in their throats and me having the trouble of forcing it out -don't ask how I did it because it's a mystery even to me. Even still, during my hours in the practice focusing my energy on helping patients or filling out paperwork for Tsunade -who by the way was furious with me for abandoning my duties of finishing the work I left that night (she can talk, downing sake at any chance she gets)- I couldn't stop thinking about those images. They rolled through my mind as if they were playing in a home cinema, plaguing my thoughts with graphic detailing of the popped bones ripping through bloody skin and a torn nose struggling to keep itself connected to their face. Describing it now makes me want to hurl.

But there was something that I hadn't yet noticed -seeing as I kept zoning in and out of reality, too scarred by those memories- until this evening. Succeeding in journeying all the way home (without falling into a situation like the other night) and having survived another day under my merciless mentor who made me sign papers all afternoon, not allowing for a break until I had scribed my name over every form piled beside my tub of pens, I withdrew to my shower, my skin desperately needing a long soak under those strawberry sceneted bubbles and a release of tension knotted into my muscles.

Turning the taps their full capacity, I let the water crash over my body with harsh force, the wet beads tracing my curves and travelling the length of me leaving a burning pink shine on my skin. They washed the suds away stealing them in their slippery grip, dragging them down the drain; they spiralled around the hole like a hurricane of soapy water thrashing against the sides of the glass walls, the fruity smell floating up to caress my nose. I wanted to relax without those dreadful images harassing my tired mind but that wish was far from being granted when my eyes caught sight of a reddening pattern formed at the base of my left wrist. Funny, it wasn't there yesterday. I raised my wrist to eye level and scrutinised the tingling etching tattooed into my skin; it looked like it was gradually filling itself in with red and white and black outlining it. My eyes focused on the pattern in an attempt to decifer what it was, I strained to see but the colours weren't rich enough yet for me to recognise its shape. I had never seen anything like it, out of the many tattoos sketched onto my patients' bodies, I hadn't come across one that slowly coloured itself in, heck there probably wasn't the technology available for use and even if there was, it must of cost an arm and a leg to purchase.

I felt a dull pulse thumping in the backs of my eyes, stinging against my retina as it tensed every time I strained them. Tiredness. A regular suffering I lived through what with work dominating every hour I had free and my efforts to stay healthy, it really did grate on me as every day came to an end, releasing its intense aggression and hitting hard on my system, decaying all sense of awareness in me. My gaze slid back to the whirlpool of water gathering at the drain in order to calm the throb of my eyes by allowing any concentration I had drift away.

Even though I wasn't looking, I could now feel a slight tingle electrify my wrist circling the pattern. What was it? And better yet, how did it get there?

I unconsciously rose my hand to twist the taps off, blocking the flow of water from releasing its fury over my hair and body any longer and stepped out onto the tiled floor. I shakely grabbed my towel from the sink and slowly wrapped its fluffy body around mine. Walking out of the bathroom to my kitchen, I brought my wrist up again, still curious as to what it was and what it meant. The cold air bit at the lining of it sending jolts of pain through my nerves to the top of my shoulder, an ache erupting in the core of the joint, slicing my muscles apart and squeezing the bone until I could feel a wave of numbness fold around it. I now found it difficult to breath as the air continued to aggravate the lining, I had to make it go away. Warmth. That would do the trick.

I blew my breath against the tattoo, the heat tickled its engravings nicely and the burn subsided to a dull throb again linguring around my wrist, the pain having been relieved from my shoulder as well. It was so tender, like all new tattoos probably were but this one was... extraordinary. I tucked my arms under my towel to prevent any more convulsions from tearing my nerves to shreds; the towel slipped over my shoulders hitting my nape, the fluff gently caressing the skin and rogue hairs glued under a mesh of water to my neck. The throbbing disappeared altogether.

Finally in the kitchen, I lazily dragged a chair away from the table and dropped in its seat, the contours cupped my bum comfortably as if it had moulded to the shape of my body over the years it had been there to comfort my weight. I lent back, lifting the chair from the floor resting it on its hind legs and mulled over (again) the days after the incident. I didn't know whether a report to the police was necessary, after all, I hadn't the evidence to support my claim other than the vivid memories that even I wasn't sure were dreams or real. They would probably laugh, I mean, Konoha wasn't exactly a stranger to crime and even if I only lived near the outskirts, it wasn't an exception to the violence of ruthless hoodlums running riot on our streets.

I breathed a selfish amount of air trying to appease the worries clogging my mind whenever I thought about my situation (unbeknowest to me, I was in bigger shit than I realised). The anxiety coiled round my throat, pinching tighter every time I took in a breath making me suffocate. The chair tipped forward as I shifted my feet from the table, its front legs plunging to the floor with a stiff shock vibrating up the wood. I couldn't stand all this, why was I there in the first place? If only I had left earlier with everyone else, if only. The anxiety turned savage, clawing at my insides and tearing them up, destroying my grasp on reality; I felt like I was in a bubble, all alone with only the company of insanity chewing on my hopes of escaping. That man, what he'd done, really fucked me up.

Just as I almost lost to my uneasiness the door bell buzzed and so, unwrapping my arms from myself (I probably did that in my panic) I stood from the table -refolding my towel round me so that it was tucked under my armpits, letting my arms sway freely- and walked towards the door all the while my heart was ready to rip from my chest. The hour was late so why would someone be visiting? My hand clamped on the door handle, twisting it warily due to my recent development of paranoia; the door weighed back, falling away to reveal a shadowed figure leaning against its frame, arms crossed solidly round their chest, head hung low with a cigarette hanging from their mouth, the occasional cloud of smoke flying free as they inhaled its bitter taste, the end of the cigarette burning a vibrant aray of reds and oranges. For one thing I hated the smell, it reminded me of trouble and I wasn't one to indulge in that sort of thing.

"Can I help you?" the words were raspy but the annoyance in my voice was audible, I made sure of that.

"Tch, troublesome." he breathed through the smoke harboured in his mouth, the sound low and bored, like he had no intentions of spending any more time than he had to conversing with me.

"Look, no offense, but it's getting kinda late and I _would _like some sleep tonight."

His head rose coming out of the shadows allowing the light from the hall to refract on his skin, eluminating his brown eyes and emphasising the spikes gathered in the hair tie at the back of his mane, which was a glossy chesnut brown shaped like a pinapple.

Our eyes met.

"You can have it the easy way or the hard way."

"Wha-?"

"The easy way isn't so troublesome for me." What was up with guy and things being 'troublesome'?

"Wait a second, who _are _you?" It's not everyday that a -rather handsome- man appears on your doorstep wafffling about 'easy ways and hard ways', unless you're in some sort of movie which I don't think I was.

"I guess it's going to be the hard way, how troublesome" He muttered through a sigh clogged with smoke that ran up my cheeks and stung the backs of my eyes.

Before I could come to terms with anything, I felt my feet slip away from the ground that they were comfortably attached to and felt a digging weight wedge into the muscles of my stomach, moving slightly to create a secure connection between it and my body; I felt gushes of blood fall to the top of my head, pressing down on my eyes trying to force an exit through my tear ducts. All I saw beneath me was the paved floor and worn chewing gum glued between the cracks of the concrete. I was moving but couldn't stop it. Convulsions rippled along my bones, thuds beat violently against my ears, pain struck my eyes coarsing through them and an ache had threaded through the rows of eyelashes attached to my lids. Everything hurt. It all happened so fast, I was standing in front of a man and then bam! I'm moving somehow, pain everywhere.

Too much blood had rushed to my head and my vision blurred considerably, seeing nothing but red and black; My arms were swinging, lightly bumping into something over and over again along with the rhythm already in place from our moving and my eyes caught it again, the mark from before. It was much richer in colour, more defined and now just about, I could see it. One half was a deep red whilst the other only white, black outlined the pattern distinguishing its intricacy even more. And then I saw it, the shape, it was a fan.

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Footsteps could barely be heard as they echoed along the hall, the steps walking closer to her apartment that stood open for anyone to intrude. But he wasn't an intruder, just a visitor coming to see how she lived.

He raised his hand and balanced it on the wooden frame of the door, hardly leaning any weight on his arm and quietly surveyed the scene in front of him, automatically saving it to his memory. His foot stepped across the barrier and touched the carpet fitting in her apartment, the other foot following its path and carrying him around her home. His memory was a sponge, soaking up every detail of her property and fixing it into his mind for future reference; he needed to know every thing about her in order to play his piece one step in front of the rest.

His hands swiped over the collection of photos recording her life and nimbly moved across other paraphernalia cluttered around her shelves waiting for him to touch and investigate them. He made his way through her living room, kitchen, bathroom -the tangy smell of strawberries still danced in the condensed air, filling him with the fragrance belonging to her- and her bedroom, where he had put her that night, tucked between her sheets in a cocoon of warmth. A smirk caressed his face. She really did amuse him.

He twisted towards her door and stepped further away from her bedroom, abandoning it along with everything else, his movements graceful and strong. His walking ceased however when he reached the front door, turning his head only just to steal a glimspe of her old life, the life she would leave behind for good.

"Sasuke," A silver haired man spoke through jagged teeth, a grin hanging from his features, eyes a sharp purple with a look of subtle evil, "They got to her first."

"Hn," he withdrew a small breath, "I'll let them have her for now."

He continued to walk away from her apartment whilst the other man flicked his wrist towards it, the object enclosed in his palm flying through the door. Within seconds her modest home was caught in a sea of flames.

"But not for long."

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**I guess that's it for this chapter *claps* yay and A HAPPY NEW YEAR PALLIES! I must let you know that I wrote half of this when I was a bit drunk haha *scratches head* so I hope it makes sense. But I can't believe it's 2011 already! Time flies it would seem.**

****Thankyou all for being patient because even though it's been the christmas holidays, I still couldn't manage to get either of my fics updated (I spent a great deal of time writing the next chapters but I didn't finish them *sad face*) I promise though that my other one 'In the town of tokyo' will be updated either today or hopefully tomorrow. I hope you've all had a great christmas as well though! And just know that I was there spreading the luvvvvvvvve to you all ahaha but seriously, hope everything is alright with you guys.

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THANKCHOO FOR THE CONSTANT SUPPORT -reviews, favs, alerts and all that jazziness. I really appreciate it, it brings a smile to my face to see that people like this story so I'm glad you continue to love me hahaa just kidding ;-)  
I've got two exams coming up in the next 2 weeks so I've gotta revise and I have to RE-READ pride and prejucice and enduring love! The cheek of my english lit teachers, they ask too much, but the good news is that for christmas, along with my other pressies, I got 'Atonement', 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein'! YAYYYYY MEEEEEEEE hahaa

Ahh I love you all.  
Happy reading!

**Byebi xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo and HAPPY NEW YEAR (again lol) ahahaa**


	3. Konoha's Most Wanted

**A/N: EDIT - 01/05/2011  
So I made a radical change to this chapter at the end; Uchiha Sasuke's position in the Yakuza has officially been changed, he is no longer the 'Oyabun' (yea I did my research haha, Oyabun means 'The Father' if you weren't sure) he is... you'll just have to wait and see next chapter ;P**

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**Beware Of The Yakuza**

**Konoha's Most Wanted**

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I couldn't see anything apart from the empty darkness behind my lids; I couldn't hear anything other than the occasional mumble of words echoing back and forth above my head, and the only thing I could smell were the dusty fibres roughly scratching my face. My nose almost digested them as I breathed hard and erratically under the sack covering my head. I had never been so terrified –I would happily volunteer to perform surgery any day if it meant I would never be trapped in a situation like this again.

My chest vibrated from the thud of my heart bouncing uncontrollably against my ribcage in trepidation, my mind constantly wondering what was outside the suffocating space of the sack. I could feel a tingle of numbness climb the scales of my legs, slowly destroying any strength harboured under their layers of muscle, as if my body was already self-destructing in defeat. My feet dragged behind me, the edges of my toes roughly scuffing against the cold floor that gladly split the skin wedged between my nails and toes with its serrated teeth, forcing red watery lines to paint over its stony skin. I was in so much pain from all the pulling and lugging about. My bones felt as though they would crumble at any moment from the drug they had injected me with. I felt the chemical pulse through my veins, corroding all ounces of sensation and awareness, making me drowsier by the second.

The walk was long. I couldn't quite guess how long I had been dragged through countless hallways but it felt like I was turning 100 years old when I finally felt my bum hit something solid. The sack was wrenched past my chin, mouth, nose and eyes, burning my skin violently from the momentary friction. My eyes opened to see a flash of white light glaring menacingly in my direction making me instantly press them shut again -it was less painful that way. I ran a trail of saliva over my chapped lips to heal the broken skin that was now beginning to peel away. Whilst retracting my tongue back inside its damp cave, I attempted once more to open my eyes up to the atmosphere that stood beyond the comforting darkness I had grown accustomed to.

This time it wasn't as painful but never the less still uncomfortable. I could barely discern the faces in front of me. I could see they were all male from the strength held in their jaws and the narrowness of their eyes cast in shadows, all scrutinising me with stares that could rip through the bone. A sonorous echo refracted through the thick tension of the room, calling out to me with a command, but the drug made it impossible to hear clearly. It replayed over and over again, trying to puncture through the impervious prison surrounding my eardrums, the pitch rising and rising until it became almost possible to recognise any form of speech formed at the person's mouth.

"Drink." Finally I heard the terse command spat in my ear, and only after my eyes shifted from the row of faces, did I notice the upheld glass settled in the curves of a solid hand.

Slowly lifting my hand to reach for the glass, my eyes scoped over the owner of the outstretched hand's face taking in everything about their heavenly features. Their eyes were a clear, light purple that for a fleeting moment, looked purely white, with high cheekbones strongly defined by the light reflecting off them making their skin look almost transparent. Their thin lips sat in a line beneath a sharp aristocratic blade, shaped upwards giving a superior air to the person, but despite that last little detail, my eyes couldn't help but water at the sight of such superb beauty. Their shoulders spread broadly across from each other leading down to a strapping chest, moulded with muscles well pronounced under the cloth of their shirt. Their body was tall, easily capable of towering over me if I were to stand beside them, and easily intimidating in the vivid colour of the lamp at their back.

Ack! Why did the bad guys have to be so goddamn sexy!

"Thanks." I muttered through an unsure breath, the force of the word scratching my throat. Giving it a subtle sniff, I downed the fluid as quickly as humanly possible, and as soon as the last drop had slithered its way past the rim of the glass, a hand quickly stole it from me slinging it across the room.

The crash was all it took to break the hex placed on my hearing. A _pop_ sounded in the depths of my ear canals clearing away any dullness responsible for the past few hours (or days) of shrill silence.

"Haruno!" The same voice called me to attention forcing my eyes to flicker towards their face once more.

"Where a-"

"Where is it?" The person –who I had now figured out was a man also- bit into my question with fire in his voice.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't repeat myself."

"Well I don't know what you're talking about." I tried my best to match his fierce tone despite the increasing aggression of my heartbeat that raged beneath my chest in panic. My head began reeling with thoughts of escaping only to cause a crease in the man's forehead as if he were able to see the unspoken words rolling around in the chaos of my mind, and without wasting a second he answered with a wordless response. His arm rose and pointed towards me, replacing the sight of his face with the eye of gun glowering at me with its black stare.

"Don't," a threatening growl curled in the base of his throat, "Where the fuck is it?"

"Wait- how do you know my name?"

_Bang!_ A bullet flew past my ear whipping my hair up to reveal an almost grazed rim of cartilage that was turning pink with adrenaline. All of the air in my lungs suddenly left me.

"Answer. The. Fucking. Question!"

Nothing came out. I was utterly speechless. When he saw I had no intention of responding he didn't hesitate to press the trigger, holding it in a state of limbo between pulling and not pulling it. I was never a believer of God but now I thought it appropriate to pray to every one of them that I knew of. Silent pleas past my lips as I felt him slowly retract his finger until-

"Neji!" as if my prayers were answered, the man's arm fell to his side, the gun laying calmly in his grip.

"You're scaring her." The voice spoke again, nearer than when it had roared above the tension settled between us. Steady steps travelled towards us emerging from the shadow, revealing another tall man whose head was bathed in a halo of golden spikes. He was just as handsome as the Neji guy with blue globes sparkled in concern against his well carved, tan skin.

"Hyuga-_sama_." The Neji guy corrected through a hiss.

"Sakura-chan," he ignored the comment and turned in my direction, looking at me intently, "are you ok?"

"H-h… Whe-…how?"

"We know a lot about you Sakura-chan," he said whilst handing me a tissue to dry the tears I hadn't realised were falling, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto an-"

"What do you want from me!" It was as if my mouth malfunctioned and repelled any control my brain held over it, suddenly disgorging a series of screamed words, completely ignoring the danger of such an outburst –the Neji guy had a gun for Christ sake!

"Don't worry about that now, lets get you cleaned up." I didn't fail to miss the frown cast across his face as he looked towards the Neji guy sighing lightly to himself in what seemed like annoyance.

Reaching his hand out, Naruto gently placed his fingers around my arm and supported my weight whilst lifting me from the chair; the strength corded along his fingers could most likely snap my neck on a whim. A wave of pain tickled my feet not wanting the added pressure digging in just yet but I breathed past it, sucking in a selfish amount of air and letting it go past my lips again and again, trying to forget the ache of the hardening flesh treading along the concrete. Naruto's arm clutched my waist, pulling me against his side, easing the weight my legs were carrying until it became bearable to rest my feet on the cold slabs leading us to the end of the corridor.

Two burly men stood at either end of the double doors we were now standing in front of, looking me over curiously. Naruto grunted at them, immediately snapping their attention to his face, which from the corner of my eye seemed irritated, his brows furrowed, casting light shadows over his eyes. His mouth tugged into a tight line as his eyes sparkled with threatening authority, giving a silent command, which both men did without a wasted second, and I soon found myself being taken through the doors into another corridor. The room was seeping with light –the natural kind- that poured in generously through the tall panes of glass decorating the walls. I could see outside, I wasn't sure of how long it had been since I was given the pleasure of admiring the beauty of nature but I made sure to do so as Naruto led us along the stretch of light.

"Are you in pain?" His question took me by surprise having not spoken a word since leaving the other room.

"…Slightly."

"Where abouts?"

"My feet." I spoke more quietly this time, embarrassed that I hadn't actually been hurt in any way and was still complaining of aches and pains.

Naruto's steps faltered as I said this, sending a chilling jolt up the core of my spine –what was he planning on doing? My heart began pumping a tremendous amount of blood through my system, all of it contaminated with anxiety. A hot sensation started clinging to the muscles in my cheeks, feeling as though the skin off of them would melt at any moment from the overwhelming fear burning in the pit of my stomach. My eyes would have become wet with tears had I not seen Naruto's stance in front of me flushing every ounce of fear out.

"Hop on." His voice was expectant.

"Err…"

"I won't bite." He chuckled lightly instilling calmness to the irregular thuds of my heart and with only slight hesitation, did I jump onto his back.

"You do this often?" a first attempt of mine at making a joke.

"Only when there's a damsel in distress." His eyes looked round at me, a glint of amusement twinkling in their blue depths.

"Ah, well then lead on my knight."

"As you wish."

I laughed, although it was short, I still laughed. This guy was actually decent which made a change from the previous baddies I had encountered –even that guy who stole me away from my home was kinda rude, I mean, I am _not_ troublesome! The rest of our walk was silent apart from the occasional inquiry from Naruto concerning the welfare of my feet or the fierce grumble of his or my stomach and promises of getting food very soon.

The place I was in was unbelievable. I had never been bothered about acquiring such wealth but now I had been exposed to it, I could understand why people were desperate to have it. The furnishings were most likely all handmade in places such as Italy or France; the colours were graceful, nothing too rich except for the carpet fitting running over the staircase. That was another sight for sore eyes. The banisters were wood, crafted into polished spirals with flowers filling the empty gaps between the top and bottom, and the stairs were covered in a rich crimson that looked as though it were soft under a pair of feet. The corridor we were currently on was empty apart from the end table sat against the far wall, holding a china clock and a dish of trinkets, all purely for decoration purposes.

After what seemed like hours of travelling, Naruto finally paused outside a door, taking hold of the handle and twisting it so as to let us inside. The light from the window was blinding, forcing me to defend my eyes by squeezing them shut until I felt a smooth surface support my bum and absence of heat against my skin. I squinted my eyes open, looking directly into Naruto's eyes, just staring for a few seconds before he broke away to reach for the cabinet at the other side of the room.

I allowed my eyes to wander the expanse of the room, amazed at how much thought must have been invested into the design despite it being just a bathroom. I would have continued to gaze over the mosaics and huge bath sitting in a shower of heaven's light had it not been for the searing jerk sent along my toes.

"Fuck!" I hissed out almost biting my tongue in anger.

"Yeah, um, this will probably hurt like hell."

"Well, warn me next time." _Shit! Shit! Shit! It hurts!_ My mind was screaming with all sorts of profanities at this guy who thought it clever to take me unawares and assault my foot.

"So," he started whilst wiping the blood away, "I guess ya wanna know why you're here?"

"Well…yeah- it would be nice to know why some random guy comes to my home and forces me away to some place in the middle of nowhere."

"Shikamaru," his eyes saw my look of confusion, "that guy who took you, he's Nara Shikamaru." I said nothing in return, giving him a chance to continue.

"And this isn't the middle of nowhere."

"…"

"Look, trust me, no one wants you to be here, involved in _this_ world," his eyes flickered across the room to communicate what world he was speaking off, "but you're just an unfortunate person who has something very important to all of us."

"What?" everything he was saying bewildered me.

"I know being cryptic isn't helping, heck, I usually blurt things out as they are but I can't with this, I can't because there is too much at stake if I let the wrong information slip."

"What, you think I'm gonna go to the police or something?"

"Well yeah, basically."

"Have you killed anyone?" The question stunned him as it did me. I didn't have any control over the order of my thoughts.

"Would you call the police if I said yes?

"Of course."

"Then no, I haven't killed anyone," He knew full well that I knew he was lying and he knew I couldn't do anything about, "and that's why I'm being cryptic."

"You know as well as I do that I'm not leaving here any time soon so you might as well tell me what it is you want."

"It's not that easy."

"Nothing in life is but we all get on with it." This made him pause for a while, letting him concentrate on cleaning the wounds on my feet rather than allow himself to be interrogated mercilessly by a frustrated pink-haired woman.

"What did that Neji guy mean by, 'where is it'? What is _it_?"

"He was talking about the thing that is important to us, the _it_ being that thing."

"Well if you told me what_ it_ is then I would happily hand it over to you." This made him chuckle.

"You aren't gonna let this go are ya?"

"Of course not, I'm not fool, I know when something dodgy is going on."

"Sharp eye."

"I know." A smirk of my own revealed itself on my lips, I finally felt comfortable since I'd been here but there was a nagging in my head, clawing at the base, wanting me to find some answers to the questions that had been there since that night.

"You heard about that killing near the surgery I work at –I'm assuming you know where I work."

"Hm, like I said, I know a quite a bit about you Sakura-chan," there was a pause almost unnoticeable if I weren't the type to analyse everything about a situation, a trait developed in university I suppose.

"But yeah, I heard about it."

"Do you know who did it?"

Sigh, "…yes."

"So you know who took me home that night." My voice was uneven and I could feel the invisible tears welling in the corners of my eyes, stinging the rows of eyelashes that hung low across the dull green.

"I guess…" he saw the desperation locked in my eyes, whirling round restlessly, "yes, yes I do Sakura-chan."

"Please…" It was no more than a whisper.

"There are people in this world, my world, who will do anything to get what they want despite the consequences. We aren't like that however _he_ is, very much. He will kill, take and torture until he gets that _thing_ that everyone in our world is fighting for… and as much as I hate to admit this, he will most likely win but I promise you Sakura-chan, that I will protect you to the moon and back."

"Who is it?" the burning at the sides of my eyes was excruciating along with the tension running along every bones beneath my skin.

"A man from one of the most powerful and influential yakuzas in Japan–Uchiha Sasuke."

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**AHHHH! I can feel your glares burning me! Seriously I am so~ sorry guys, I never meant to have a lapse for this long! It has surely been a whileeeeeeeeee but, I was determined to get this up despite the amount of h/w and revision I have to do- meh who cares haha. So I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though there are loads of words I repeated tooooo many times, such as the word 'had' which I now absolutely hate with a passion! But yarrr I hope ya liked it- I was gonna include way more in this chapter, but I wanted all of the information to be revealed over the course of a whole chapter, and not rushed in at the end, so next chapter will have ALOT more detail ;-) ahaha. And I know there are some parts that I don't really describe, like what the bathroom looked like and shizz, I can't be bothered with that stuff cus I know for a fact that if I when I read a description of something like that, I tend to deviate from what the author described, so I'll let your minds do all that haha (and also I'm lazyyy mehhh)**

**Thankyou to everyone who reviewed the previous chappie! I LOVE CHOOOO! kiss kiss hug hugg ahahaa and thankyou to everyone who put this on alert or as their favourite, you make me happy, so happy I must dance *do do doooo*. Please, if you can, try and do so again :D It would make my life haha.**

**Updates for other fics will be whenever I can do it but I'll try my best!  
Love and HAPPY READING hahaaa**


	4. Everybody Loves A Ball

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE VISIT THE LAST FEW PARAGRAPHS OF CHAPTER 3 AS THERE HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PLOT CHANGE...thankyouuu**

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**Beware of the Yakuza**

**Everybody Loves A Ball**

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I was glad to leave that room as quickly as Naruto could lift a fully developed human weight onto his back, stiffer than the last time I was clamped against it. The air had grown terribly thick once he said that name, enough so that it was highly possible to slice through every molecule of tension as if the air was a slab of meat ready for Sunday roast carving. Naruto was changed also, his face tightly set in a scowl, fists closed and gently wobbling at his sides. He didn't say anything else from that point on (not that he could–his lips were glued shut.)

He lifted me onto his back like a mother gorilla, pointedly ignoring my stare, and carried me away from the bathroom to a new destination that was currently unknown to me. No words were exchanged between us as much as I silently pleaded for him to say something…anything. However, he remained quiet, fully concentrated on the path ahead of us. I tried to distract myself from the heavy silence he carried along with us, looking above me at the ceiling carvings of plump cupids and their arrows pointed at the angelic figure of a woman, innocently gazing afar, her naked body partially hidden by the plaits in her hair that fell over her shoulder like an endless waterfall. If only I were her, who was far out of reach from any trouble waiting to gobble her up.

My attention kept to the views around me of the house's design that bled sophistication, maturity and wealth, which made me wonder as Naruto climbed the mountainous staircase, what _did_ he and those men do to procure such luxury? The thought frightened me. As tempting as it was to find out (and as easy as it was), what would happen after? If I figured out their 'trade', their entire histories, then that would mean I was absolutely accountable to these men, I would become theirs, bound by my simple knowledge of their existence. All of this fuelled my desire to find my way home, back to the hours of normality and safety where there weren't any strange characters knocking on my door, and forcibly carrying me away from my utopia of books, TV and food.

I felt Naruto shrug me off his back as I finally arrived in reality, the tall walls lined with doors and windows returning to their places with the décor of posh chairs and end tables fitting comfortably back in place of the delusion I wished was real. My feet hit the carpet with a painful _thud_ causing a sharp kick to knock the souls of my chafed feet. I bared my teeth in agony although, Naruto still didn't take any notice, taking the door handle in his palm and clamping his hold around it to successfully open the door.

He took a step back allowing me to pass through awkwardly on my tiptoes. His frown only grew deeper. I finally managed to step inside the room I would be staying in, gazing blankly around, my eyes staring at the sizeable bed for much longer. How nice it would be to just lie down and sleep, even for two minutes.

"Clothes are in the drawers." A low rumble came from behind me making my head turn, my eyes meeting an aggravated gaze pointed at the chest of drawers he mentioned. One nod was enough for his conscience to be reassured that I knew what I was doing, and leave the room altogether, the faint whiff of masculinity lingering at the door being all that was left of his presence.

Speaking of whiffs, an old musky smell disguised the purity of the air surrounding me, hitting my senses with a wake up call; my skin desperately needed reacquainting with a bar of soap. Although, it would of helped if clear directions were given _before _Naruto took his leave, concerning the whereabouts of the bathroom. Deciding against calling him back for fear he would completely ignore me or suddenly flip out, releasing all of the pent up rage that radiated strongly from his strides. I shook my head; why was I so dependent on him all of a sudden when throughout my entire life, I had remained on my own, trusting only me.

My eyes quickly skimmed across the room once more, looking over the drawers, the enormous bed big enough for at least five people to comfortably slip beneath those heavy fabrics, the paintings and ancient ornaments, the grandfather clock ticking the minutes away in a low hum, and finally another door standing tall and alone on the other side of the room. I walked (more like hobbled) forward over the carpet, attempting to keep the friction between skin and fabric at a minimum, and reached my hand up to catch hold of the handle, pushing it open.

This bathroom was almost identical to the other; a shower, bathtub, sink and toilet were all prominent features. At that moment I couldn't have cared less about whether there was a pink elephant scrubbing down with a fluffy sponge in the tub, I just needed to wash, I needed the clear fumes to distract me from what was happening and (god-forbid) what was going to happen to me. Almost skidding across the cool waxed tiles (that sent relieving shivers up the chafes of my feet), I managed to reach the shower unscathed and without any hesitation, I slid the glass door to one side giving myself room to move into the shower after dropping my towel to the floor.

I stepped inside and slid the door shut. Finally my wish would come true. Water started pouring out endlessly from the overhead mouth of the shower, drowning me in its steamy lava. The large wet droplets shook the dirt from my skin and carried all of it to its death in a violent whirlpool that disappeared into the darkness of the drain. It felt nice to be free of that condemning grime.

I poured as much shower gel into the cup of my palm as it could hold, lathering it up and swiftly applying it to every limb I was in reach of. The suds soothed my muscles, massaging their way in between every layer of taunt tissue and working the tension out. I was finally beginning to relax in this strange place, and as I washed away the soapy veil covering my body, an unexpected thought rushed through my mind; what about the surgery? And Tsunade, how was she going to react when she saw I wasn't in my office filing away paperwork or handling a patient's case?

I dreaded to think what the surgery would turn into when she discovered I was missing–boy, did that lady have a temper.

Wrapping my fallen towel around me once the water ceased to pelt me with its refreshing teardrops, I stepped out of the shower, my feet (now eased) meeting the icy top of the tiles, and dried off as quickly as my arms were capable of moving to avoid any more assaults on my wet skin by the cold air.

As the towel slid further and further down my body slipping across my legs like a net catching the rolling tears, I couldn't have been more mortified when the bathroom door swung back hard, clattering into the tiled wall, exposing my unadulterated nakedness to a pair of cerulean globes completely glued to the surface of my wet skin. I felt a blush creep up my neck, shadowing it in a furious pink that reached the tops of my cheeks, putting my hair to shame. And yet, despite my humiliation, I found it impossible to recover my dignity… nothing would move. My body didn't even twitch; everything was out of order and my skin remained naked.

"Um…" It looked like Naruto's tongue was just as immobile as mine was.

We continued to stare like rabbits caught in headlights at each other, unmoving and totally mute. I couldn't guess how long I endured that painful silence but to save myself from eternal chagrin, I exercised my power of speech and let loose the anger coiling up inside.

"_Get out!_" and picking the closest thing to me–which was a grave mistake–I lunged my towel at his paralysed figure and ultimately relinquishing any amount of protection I previously clung to–it hit him square on the face, gliding down as fast as it had landed, to the floor. Naruto spared a last quick moment to digest my show of nudity before escaping from the grip of my glare, leaving the towel in front of the closed door. I needed time to collect myself in these few minutes of regained peace, taking deep breaths in and out, calming down after the exchange of embarrassment between us that had left me feeling even more uncomfortable in this place than I was before–which I thought was impossible.

I subdued the heaving of my chest as thoughts of home entered my mind once more, filling my stomach with a tickling sensation–hope. What could be better than to go home?

Feeling better, I broke out of the stiff stance I stood in, shook off the awkward blanket of alienation which was starting to tighten the longer I was trapped in this place, and made my way towards my towel at the edge of the bathroom's entrance. It felt comforting between my fingers, its soft frays caressing the surface of my fingers as I wrapped it under my arms again, squeezing them down to secure it in place and placed my hand around the door handle. It rattled along to the beat of my nervousness–I didn't want to face Naruto just yet–and had accumulated a layer of damp that clouded its polished finish, a result of the excessive sum of sweat leaking out of my palms.

Clearing my throat and straightening up, I forced the door forward, opening my shelter to the man with the sunny hair and gleaming teeth, whose cheeks were still hiding a shy pink. Tightening my grip on the handle my clammy palm still hugged, I sucked in a breath of tense air and managed to strain my eyes on the man sitting against the bed. I could feel the warmth on my cheeks growing intensely as a flurry of recent memories in that bathroom rushed back into my mind, reminding me of those painful seconds spent vulnerable to a stranger's scrutiny (Naruto seemed to be experiencing the same thing because he couldn't help but allow his rogue gaze to stray from mine.)

"Ahem," his cough was superficial, "I brought you some clothes."

I waited a short while before answering, the words becoming harder to grasp hold of.

"T-thanks."

"Your welcome." Scratching the back of his head and smiling sheepishly Naruto stood up off the bed and began walking towards the door leading out onto the lengthy hallway. I studied his back, noticing the broadness of it, making him look all the more masculine than what his eyes portrayed. I watched him take the handle (although, it looked like his hand had eaten it) and pull the door back to give himself room to leave my company.

"I thought I had clothes in the drawer." He stopped in his tracks and looked at me over his strong shoulder.

"You won't find clothes like _that_," he jerked his head at the suit travel bag, "In a chest of drawers."

He waited by the door like he was hinting for me to take some initiative and check out what was zipped up in the bag laid neatly on the bed. So, taking his hint, I stepped across the room closing the space between the bed, myself, and Naruto who carefully studied my expression deciphering the thoughts running through my mind while I, gripping the zip between my fingers, nudged it open and hesitantly peered inside the black space. From the corner of my eye I watched his mouth twitch, forming a discrete look of complacency as he looked at mine, that were bulging from their sockets with surprise. The apparel secured within the folds of the bag was…expensive. Pulling it out to inspect the item clearly, I wasn't able to stop my lips from parting in astonishment when I saw what he had given me.

It was entirely black, and long. The torso of the dress was opaque and strapless, shaped at the bust into a cupid's bow that I'm sure would offer a subtle peek of the wearer's cleavage. A thin band of small-cut diamonds were wrapped round the midriff of the dress, leading to a flourish of material, swaying out in waves of lucent silk that fell down past the feet when the wearer was still, in layers, turning opaque again and immersing the wearer's legs in a smooth, caressing pool of silk.

It was beautiful.

"Be quick, we'll be leaving in an hour and a half." Naruto's voice registered in my head, as did the other silent noises in the room, pulling my imagination out of the clouds and back to reality.

"Wait! What do you mean be quick?" my eyes flitted between the dress and Naruto, "I'm not wearing this!"

"Well I'm not too keen on you turning naturist right now, this isn't the time for something like that." He huffed playfully, noticing the blush that returned to my cheeks at the mention of nudity.

"I can assure you my feelings are the same." I bit out, face piping hot with embarrassment.

"Good. Now get dressed."

"Wha- Naruto, what the hell!" I shouted uselessly at the (now) closed door. I was left alone, dress held in hand and an expression that would rival Tsunade's. Great, I thought, now I had to dress in this…

Or I could just not do it. I wasn't being forced (technically I was) which meant I was able to choose whether I threw the dress on or not…

And if I did that then you might as well say 'bye bye Sakura' now. There was no way I was getting myself into trouble by rebelling against this one, small request; I refused to endure another session of intimidation with that Neji guy, I could guarantee I would have nightmares for the rest of the week of his stone face and pupil less, cold eyes glaring at me through those velvet brown strands of hair fallen from the band securing the rest of his mane at the back of his head (stop getting carried away Sakura.)

It wasn't worth the stress refusing to comply with their orders, even though I felt like a woman of the 18th century–repressed and subordinate. However, I was required by my own wish to return home, to follow their instructions without complaint, which meant I would have to wear the dress and go along with whatever was being planned that I was now a part of. Careful not to crease it, I slowly flattened the dress on the bed on top of the bag it was delivered in and allowed my towel to drop around my ankles, hoping for no one to intrude on my privacy another time as I tiptoed over to the drawers that with any luck, would harbour a few sets of underwear.

I took hold of the first drawer's handle and lent back on my feet for the draw to glide open, revealing a cubbyhole overflowing with interesting varieties of knickers and bras. It was surprising to find this diversity of underwear–I didn't expect those men to be the diligent types, heck! They had supplied me with at least 5 years worth of underwear! Looking for a strapless bra and panties, I began sifting through the heaps of clothing neatly organised and folded into an order of colour, size, shape, and material. It didn't take long to find the type I sought and they were quite a nice simple pair, no lace, no patterns, just simple matching black smooth cloth.

Not waiting any longer, I dived into the hooks and spaces of my freshly picked underwear, slotting my limbs into the correct places–the cleavage of the bra low cut to disguise itself from view when wearing a showy dress–before walking back over to the bed, standing gawkily in front of the most dear and elegant dress I had ever touched. I couldn't possibly wear something like that; it was above my class description (a potent sense of uselessness overwhelmed me by just staring admirably at it, as if the dress was more deserving to be seen wearing _me_ than I was to be seen wearing _it_.)

Snap out of it! I mentally slapped my cheek at my ridiculousness; I was being stupid. All I was required to do was put on the damned thing! And put it on was what I did.

Unzipping the invisible zip sewn on the side of the dress, I slipped my legs into its silky body slowly dragging it up my form, pleased by the soft comforting feel of material against my skin, reassuring myself that I was good enough to wear it, as if I was meant to. I lifted it past my bust until it would go no further, sitting conservatively just above my cleavage offering a shy look of my breasts as the cut of the dress slightly curved downwards. The band of gems clung to the middle of my torso, beautifully hanging round my waist whilst the rest of the dress gently cascaded down in a waterfall of black silk over my legs. I was shocked at how well it fit me, which led me to think–how much did they know about me?

As the thought skated through my mind there was a small rapping on the door before it fell open, ajar, a woman slipping between the gap into the room. She was older, more mature than I was and Naruto, with wispy hair tied into a neat bun at the back of her head, streaks of grey hiding beneath the rest of her brown mane. She wore a white apron over a dull dress, unshaped and plain with black tights covering her legs. The apron brushed her knees as she walked towards me, her hands holding a black box.

"Haruno-san?" She inquired wearily so to not mistake me for someone else.

"Yes." I bowed to her in acknowledgement however she dismissed my politeness with a wave of her hand, saying she was the one who should be bowing.

"My name is Suzuki Chiyoko, I have been summoned to assist your preparation for the ball you shall be attending this evening. I assume you have no means of beauty appliances?"

"Um…" acting as if I knew what she was talking of I continued strongly, shaking my head at her question, "None whatsoever."

"Very well then, we must beautify you at once." She spoke cheerily, her smile broader than when she first arrived. Gesturing with her hand she led me towards the vanity located by the chest of drawers, urging me to sit myself on the stool and allow her to begin her work.

Chiyoko set the box down in front of the mirror, leaning over me to unclasp the hook and open it, revealing the contents of the container; a collection of make-up material was gathered on one side whilst the other was filled with hair products– I hope she wasn't going to transform me into a woman of the 50s…

I repressed my desires of taking control of my own face and hair, letting her do what she was called to do. My eyes didn't stray from her fingers once as she turned me round to look her in the eyes and began applying a thin layer of mascara to my lashes, the fine hairs gradually darkening as the brush stroked them for no more than five seconds. She returned the mascara back to its place in the cosmetics box, and her hand moved over the eyeshadow, completely ignoring its colourful disk of powder and went straight for the eyeliner. Twisting the liner from its tube, she started applying a strip across my upper lids just above my eyelash lines, the feeling ticklish and cold as the tip of the pen touched my skin.

Finishing with that, she placed it back in the box also, her hand grasping a lipstick instantly and popping the top off to begin rubbing the colour over my lips. I could make out, despite the crossing of my eyes when her hand approached my face, the colour of it, a medium red (not too bright.) She spread its colour across the expanse of my lips making sure all skin was covered with its vibrancy.

Placing the makeup back inside the box, she began her work on my hair taking a brush from within the crammed coffer, and took my hair in her hand then ran the bristles through my hair, detangling my abandoned head. Brushing everything out of my face and to the back of my head she decided that no more combing needed to be done, and took out some hair pins from a plastic pack. They bundled out of the pack in all sorts of sizes, small, medium and large. Her hands went for the large firstly and soon after her taking of one pin, dozens now gripped tightly to my pink strands that sat in an updo on my head; a gently raised quiff sweeping to the crown of my head, strands of my fringe parted in the middle and brushed to the sides whilst the rest of my hair was done up in a loose bun situated at the back of my head, resting in the middle.

Chiyoko announced she was finished, giving me a chance to admire her impressive skills in the vanity mirror; my eyes couldn't keep themselves from gluing to her use of such little makeup and simple hairstyling–it all looked amazing.

"Thank you so much Suzuki-san."

"It is my pleasure, and please call me Chiyoko-san, Haruno-san." She bowed her head once more.

"Then please do refer to me as Sakura, Chiyoko-san." I said smiling at her in the mirror before stealing another glimpse of my transformation.

Before another word could be exchanged between us the door hit the wall and in came Naruto, cheery as he had been when we first met. His pace was haltered for a few moments when his eyes and my own clashed, his mouth seeming to drop slightly when his gaze slipped down my figure. I heard a discrete chuckle erupt from Chiyoko, which only made me blush in embarrassment–again Naruto managed to put me in another uncomfortable situation!

"Er–um…"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Ah- oh, um–you ready?" He stuttered out, scratching his hair again, attracting my gaze to look over his attire. He was dressed in an immaculate suit, black and tailored to his large frame with a clinically white dress shirt tucked underneath the clean cut suit jacket, a tie wrapped round his neck which was also black. His shoes were again, black like the rest of his clothes in a brogue style fit, laced up neatly and securely on his feet.

"I think so," it was then I noticed the feel of the ruffled carpet between my toes, "although, a pair of decent shoes would be nice."

"Ah, well let that be no problem to you." And in his now, raised hand, a pair of black peep toe heels dangled idly waiting to be worn.

"Thanks." A quick smile painted my face, my cheeks feeling warmer than before and to add insult to injury, Naruto decided to walk across the room and kneel in front of me, terribly close, encouraging me to lift each foot and allow him to fit the shoes on, raising my average height so that I was able to (if I wanted) place a kiss with ease on his cheek.

"You're welcome." He peered upwards, a grin stretched across his face from ear to ear in the smuggest fashion possible, then standing tall he ushered me to slot my arm in his like a jigsaw and walk with him away from the room I was finally beginning to feel comfortable in.

We slowly glided through the hallways of the mansion, my eyes wandering around so as to avoid looking at Naruto, which would positively force a blush on the surfaces of my cheeks. My attention returned however, when we came by the grand staircase he had once carried me up, being sure to step carefully on each step and not tear my dress. After what seemed forever, we finally descended the last step and walked towards the double door entrance that towered menacingly above, casting a sinister shadow over our shrunken forms as we passed through its mouth, out into the open air of the evening.

The feeling of liberty overwhelmed my part so intensely that I felt I could take on the entire world. Not experiencing freedom for however long I was trapped within those tall walls had stunted my spirits and left me feeling sick with defeat. But now, now I was out in the open, relishing the fresh air streaming up my nostrils and cold touch of the breeze skimming across my face like everyone else, I was an equal of society once more and would never return to those moments of despair and loneliness I felt in that house–not even if they forced me to.

Closing my eyes and stopping, I took a deep breath in, feeling almost as if I could smell the smell of home if I inhaled harshly enough but a tug on my arm urged me to realise, I was still in the possession of those people and right now was being escorted somewhere I had no choice in not going to. Naruto's moon dyed hair was what caught my eye once I opened them up to the real world, his face supporting a look of confusion at my sudden daze. He looked carefully about me reassuring himself that I was physically okay to carry myself to the car, and I gave him a complementary smile just to be sure he got the message. So, returning the same expression himself, he jerked me forward with a pull of his arm and we began walking towards the car again, maintaining a leisurely pace dictated by the speed at which I could move in my shoes.

A formally dressed man appeared at the car door of which I assumed Naruto and I were to climb through, resting his gloved hand on the immaculately polished handle and unhinged the door from its lock. Naruto stood still and removed his arm from our loop giving me room to enter the car first.

Hiking my dress above my ankles, I sat bum first on the car seat, pulling the remainder of my dress in afterwards and hoisted my feet into the car making sure to press my knees together to avoid another embarrassing display of indecency. I scooted over the back seats allowing Naruto entry into the back and then buckled myself in.

The journey was long and silent. All I could do was watch the blurs of blackness pass by beyond the window whilst the driver sped on in haste of reaching out destination in record time. Naruto kept his eyes elsewhere, being sure to not let his gaze glide over me or in my direction for some reason I was surely ignorant of. Questions filled my head (at least every minute) in attempts to discover the finer details of my capture, however, all words were lost in translation as if I had no clue of the local lingo.

But luckily, I was able to escape this living nightmare of silence sooner than I thought would be possible, for the driver's announcement confirmed our arrival at the place I was being taken to. Finally! I could leave the confined space of that luxury black Jaguar and make haste for the air I had–not so long ago–been reunited with. Reaching for the door handle, my hand wasn't fast enough and instead of the 'do it yourself' idea I had in mind, the driver kindly offered a hand to help me from the car's containment and onto the pavement.

"Thank you." I said whilst spinning round to take a look at where I was.

Suddenly I was shock induced. The sight of the building standing metres before my small, insignificant being was magnificent. The brickwork was ancient and posh, as were the giant windows illuminating me in a bright light. The steps leading up to the heavy doors carved so carefully, were old and worn from centuries of people's shoes scraping their bodies as they were climbed with great amounts of might. The courtyard was also breath taking and I simply couldn't get my head around how the gardens were perfectly maintained throughout every year–there was just too much foliage to take care of.

It was then that I finally noticed the swarms of people filing up the stairs and passing through the great doors giving entry into the archaic home I was about to enter. A grip around my fingers pulled my eyes away from the grand house and I found my attention zoned in on Naruto, who with a flick of his wrist was now leading me towards it.

"We are here." He spoke smugly once he had had the chance of analysing the completely genuine surprise on my face.

"Where are we?"

"At the Uchiha estate, attending one of the most important parties of the year."

"_What!_" I turned my head at him, glaring at full capacity, "Why?"

"I received my annual invite to attend and you can never say no to this family," his eyes looked back at mine, "it would be extremely disrespectful and start much too much trouble."

"Then if it was only you who received an invitation, why must I be here also?"

"Because your attendance was requested as well." And before I could retaliate, his hand sank deeply into the inside of his jacket and revealed a rectangular cut card with finely printed words scribed on one side, four of those black words spelling out his name and…mine?

"How com-"

"Good evening Uzumaki-san, it is once again a great pleasure to see you at this event for another year running." A dark-haired male spoke respectfully, standing tall beside the entrance.

"And I see you have decided on having a guest this year," his crinkled eyes trailed on me, studying my person suspiciously before a smile beamed from his face, "she is indeed a handsome one."

"That she is," Naruto replied making sure I caught a glimpse of his cocked grin slanted across his mouth, "I hope the men won't be too jealous." A deep guffaw erupted from his throat as he gave me a playful wink.

"Ah sir, I see your humour is still very much alive. I wish you and your partner the best of times at this party and hope that you have a chance to talk to Uchiha-sama."

"I hope so too, take care Hiroshi-san."

Naruto quickly led me away from Hiroshi and the other guests lingering by the doorway, and began an ascent up the steep staircase with his hand still wrapped around mine.

"You didn't even introduce me." I huffed a tad childishly.

"I didn't need to, he knew who you were."

"And how is that?" I said, noticing from the corner of my eye the peak of the steps closing in on us.

"You're quite the celebrity in these parts of town."

"That's not answering my question."

"It is for now." He said sounding irritated.

"Well I disagree so I suggest you begin explaining right now asshole!" Rage was starting its attack on my control, forcing my patience into a temporary slumber–all of this secrecy was extremely aggravating!

"I see you're still the charmer Uzumaki." A deep, smooth voice carried those words with such grace that every ounce of anger was forgotten and I was immediately entranced by the velvet projection of that voice. It made me feel numb, like I didn't know where I was or who anyone was, and yet, I couldn't help but recognise the tone and the way it induced a longing in me to be eternally soothed by that voice.

Looking up slowly I was met with a beautiful man's stare; his eyes dark like the night sky that lay outside, reflecting a degree of coldness in them that made him appear distant, conflicting with the smirk balanced on his mouth, holding so much arrogance in the way it was tilted. His cheeks and jaw looked like angels had carved them, both strong and masculine, forcing a violent tingle in my belly to pool downwards, arousing me further. His hair and skin were such a contrast, both battling each other as light and dark always do; his hair was black, a hint of blue only visible in certain angles of light whilst his skin was of a much paler consistency, almost transparent, ghostly.

He was taller than me by far, as tall as Naruto even and matching in muscle. I was lost for words at the sight of him.

"Great." Naruto mumbled.

"Who is your friend here?" He gestured in my direction with the wave of his hand.

"You know the answer to that question already." Naruto's temper was biting, like he had been scorched by the man's mere presence.

"I do?" The man's voice darkened.

"Stop fuc-"

"Haruno Sakura, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance…um, I didn't catch a name."

"Hn," his smirk widened as he watched my head lower. I was careful not to linger on his gaze for long once I had lifted my head back up but couldn't help the blush marring my cheeks when his large, calloused fingers swept over mine in a firm hold, bringing my hand to his lips.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

I knew his voice was familiar…

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**OMG! Like it's been five months since I updated this story, which is insanely long! I'm so sorry but please know that every week since the last update I was working on this chapter, it was only my frustration that got in the way of its progress because I knew how I wanted it to go, but I just didn't want to write the in between parts. Gosh I'm lazy but here you have it. **

**I reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hope you all enjoy reading it and that it's not too shit for your educated brains (sorry for grammar mistakes too) ahaha but seriously I hope you all like it and it would be great for some feedback as always, so review, fav, alert, do whatever it is you must and always do. Thanks for last chapters reviews! I loved them and sorry it took me forever to reply to them. **

**Happy reading!  
Byebi xoxo **


	5. Rehash

**Beware of the Yakuza**

**Rehash **

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My stomach churned as my conscience was flooded by images reminiscent of that fowl, traumatic evening, all fault of the man I was being made to attend the party of.

It was sickening to think that these people were more than happy to dance, drink and cheer in celebration of a family whose favourite shared pastime, was murder of their own kind. Did not any of them realise that they were also part of this scheme? That they were just as equally to blame for the complete disregard of human life?

They must have, surely.

If not, then sanity itself was at an end.

"Come on Sakura-chan, I think it's best we joined the herd." The harshness of Naruto's voice cut into the silence I had been in, stealing my mind back to reality and the eyes that bore a hole through mine. The stare Sasuke gave me was hard, as if he were ready as ever to take the life out of me, and yet, it didn't stop any temptation I had to lean in further towards him, just so I could feel the intensified pleasure his presence seemed to stir in the pit of my stomach.

The grip of Naruto's hand around my wrist however, nudged my mind back into its coherent thought and soon extinguished any considerations I was beginning to have for the man that stood tall in front of me.

"Oh?" His answer challenged, "So soon? In the middle of our introductions?"

"Good evening, Uchiha."

As we made our way to step in sync with the other guests towards the main hall, a strong pressure was just as quickly placed around the fingers on my opposite hand.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, his tone still completely reassured of the dominance he possessed over his obviously, not-so-favourite-person.

"I am sure, that your interest to discuss business with the gentlemen inside does not require the company of your lady friend here." He gestured with a slight grin almost invisible on his lips to anyone not standing within a 3cm radius. The tightening of his grip around my skin was starting to become a little too claustrophobic, making the grooves between each finger break out into a nervous sweat.

"Don't you even-" Naruto's resolve was again, swiftly interrupted by the unrelenting command of the dark-haired man who refused, despite the unbearable proximity between us, to let go of me.

"Are you not a _guest_ at this function, Uzumaki?" I could see, in plain eye, the spiteful poison seeping from Sasuke's mouth as the name of Naruto slipped from his tongue.

His disdain was becoming obvious.

"Then is it surely your courtesy to allow myself and this woman the pleasure of each other's companionship for the evening, if it is what I desire." What was meant as a question was instead, said much more as if it were an obligatory rule that Naruto was most certainly not excused from.

I felt the tension and rage radiating off of the blonde-headed man whose hand was still holding my wrist, albeit with weakening strength.

My heart pounded. He couldn't let go. Naruto just couldn't let go of me, for if he did, it would mean the end of both of our hopes to get out alive this evening. And as if on cue at my thoughts of death, a shallow click resounded next to us.

By no one's surprise, the glint of a pistol's barrel was held comfortably to the groove of Naruto's back, digging its way into his spine.

"Good evening, Naruto." And with that, the vivid hair of my saviour grew distant, and the air of intolerable superiority and potential murder grew dangerously closer.

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Whilst I was unwillingly escorted through the large doors of the ballroom entrance, Sasuke finally removed his punishing grip from around my hand, instead, pulling me in by the waist to attach us hip to hip.

It was suffocating. Everything about him and the situation he had placed upon me, was entirely suffocating – his eyes, his lips, his poise, the precision in each of his steps. He was too relaxed, too composed to be real. There wasn't an ounce of imperfection radiating from him and everyone loved him for that. The eyes that were set on us as we walked past the crowds of finely dressed affluence, stared in awe and plain jealously.

They were at his disposal, his command and he looked to be enjoying every minute of it.

The bastard.

And yet I was undeniably caught in the same web. I too, was at his disposal and I hated it.

How could someone, who was more than capable of watching the life drain out of another person's eyes, without so much as blinking, possess such a charm about them?

It was mental. And so was I if a man like this already had me head over heels for him.

"You look terrified." His voice was still very fluid.

I looked up at him, noticing that we had reached the bar and Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

I didn't answer, not because I didn't want to but because I couldn't. The air in me was restricted and all I was able to feel was the anxiety crawling up my neck. He stared back at me then turned his head to catch the attention of the bartender, ordering me a glass of wine and himself, a scotch on the rocks.

How anyone could bear to drink that insipid liquor I would never understand.

I stayed looking at him, not able to do anything but. His features were just too magical to concentrate on anything else and I didn't want the sensation of being with him to disappear, so I kept staring.

His mouth curved into the same smirk he had back then in his not-so-cool conversation with Naruto. He knew I was looking and was more than ok with it. I noticed at the corner of my eye, his hands curl round the glass flute and his smaller glass, stretching his arm towards me slightly to offer me the beverage.

Accepting the drink Sasuke had ordered on my behalf with a weary smile, I moved my gaze to take in the entirety of his stature, which I was now beginning to realise, was even more threatening than the night in the alley. His frame was typically masculine; muscular, fit, broad and solid – he could easily beat me down and most others in the room for that matter.

"You're a quite one." He said smirking, lifting the glass in his hand to his lips and tasting the auburn bile.

"And you're a murder." I replied as if all control over my mouth was no longer my own.

"Hn," He chuckled lowly into his drink, staring at me once again, "Indeed." The darkness of his gaze was uncomfortable.

Pouring a generous amount of liquid down my throat, feeling the heat of the wine gently warm the inside of my chest, I caught the slow rise of Sasuke's fine brow at how eager I was acting to consume the red alcohol.

Damn that Tsunade for sharing her bad habits with me.

"I hope the decor is up to your tastes." The intensity present in his eyes bit into every inch of skin he looked at, giving me the excuse to take this time to appreciate the grandeur evident in the polished furnishings of the room. It was clear he as well as his family were people of bottomless wealth and pride.

"It's more than I am used to." I answered, still refusing to meet his gaze. He didn't care for it and continued to watch the movement of my face as I tried to remain completely absorbed by the incredible stateliness of everything and everyone gathered in the hall. But such a mission was almost impossible with his overwhelming presence surrounding me.

So I finally looked back at him.

He smirked.

"Dance?" I was taken aback until I noticed the faint echo of a melody in the background along with the voices of other guests busy in conversations of gossip and business.

What was happening to me? Was I really so addicted and obsessed with Sasuke that it was no longer possible for me to live in accordance with the rest of the world?

"Er..." I faltered, too confused and ashamed of the person I was acting as in the company of the Uchiha. It made me uneasy to think that he was already asserting his control over me and that the strength of my will was slowly but surely breaking, just as it had done with Naruto.

His hand tugged me towards him, taking me to the dance floor where we joined the hundreds of other couples moving in time with the beat.

It was a slow rhythm, more like a slow dance than a waltz.

Sasuke reached around, resting the palms of his hands heavily on my waist, assuring me that I would be trapped for as long as it was within him to not let go. Titling my head up, our stares connected once again whilst my arms went around the nape of his neck.

There was no love in our eyes, no longing, no meaningfulness going back and forth between us as it did throughout the other couples identical to our bodies' formations.

There was only questioning.

I could feel the light puffs of his breath colliding with my own every time he inched his nose closer to mine. Our foreheads were almost touching but I was too numb to notice. It was as if I was drowning the longer we stayed intertwined like this, the longer I continued to stay staring back at him. He would eat me up if I wasn't careful.

And then I heard the faint deepness of his voice, whispering into my ear.

"Night night, Tenshi." I only just caught the fading murmur and touch of his mouth against my jaw before, once again, the bastard had me falling into darkness.

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**Author's Note. Dedication to... **_22shot_

**Wow, it has been a long ass time since I updated anything and I would like to apologise for that. Seriously. I was busy all year with my final year of sixth form (or for some people it's know as, "high school" hehe) but I finished like a month ago so I've been trying to reignite my inspiration for all of my fics... starting with this one cus to be honest, it is my favourite haha xD. Other than the ending, which to me is a bit of a cop out, I quite like this chapter out of all of them. I tried to change up my writing style and improve because going over some stuff I have written these past few weeks has been painful lool, my writing has changed so much (I'd like to think LOL delusional). But the ending would have been different if it weren't for my impatience and I really wanted to get this up for you guys asap so it is what it is. Sorreh! **

**Love you all for your support and I am sorry I couldn't respond to everyone's review but this time I will! :D **

**Happy reading and Happy Holidays! :D (sorry for any mistakes as well guys)**

**Bye xoxx**


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